Classic Sales Call Steps: 1. Characteristics of Major Sales 2. Anatomy of a Large Sales Call 3. Investigating Needs 4.

4. Obtaining Commitment and Making the Sale (Closing) 5. Setting Call Objectives 6. Customer Needs in the Major Sale 4 stages of Needs Development 7. Where Implication Questions Work Best 8. Need/Payoff Questions to the Rescue 9. SPIN Model 10. Demonstrating Capability Stage 11. Dealing With Objections 12. Preliminaries 13. Theory to Practical Action 14. Four Stages of a Call

Premise:
This book explains why doing large-sized sales requires different selling techniques than smaller sized sales.

objection prevent vs. objection handling most valuable sales skill: the building of perceived value The 4 stages of a sales call. 13.40 1. preliminaries - the warming up events

2. investigating - find something out by asking questions. uncovering needs 3. demonstrating capability - you have to show that you have the solution, and that it makes a worthwhile contribution to help solving their problems -convince that you have something to offer 4. obtaining commitment

Advances - advancing the customer's commitment directive probes the garrulous buy who can't stop talking a new direction. 23.45 new questioning models

A sequence called spinning, 4 steps: 1. the spin sequence of questions 2. problem questions - explore problems, difficulties and dissatisfactions 3. implication questions 4. need/payoff questions

SPIN Sequence, Problem, Implication, Need

assumptive closes standing room closes last chance closes

order blank closes the banana close

The ABC of selling - Always Be Closing

implies or invites a commitment the 12 step staircase technique I noticed a distinct antagonism sew the first seeds of doubt a lickered??? scale. 40.35 the psychological effect of pressure. 45.20

closing and post sale satisfaction. 55.00 the post-sale relationship behavior measurement ineffective behavior patterns and their causes

took the cowards way out continuations. 1.06.10 setting call objectives. 1.10.00 question your objectives ruthlessly Not true objectives: -to collect information -to build a good relationships Objectives of this kind are not good enough. They lead to continuations, not advances.

simple ways to get commitment. 1.11.20 range 1.clearly perceives a need for what you're offering 2. Checking that key concerns are covered elements of confusion and doubt 3. summarizing the benefits

-summarize key points, especially the benefits 4. Successful sellers don't ask, they tell. using the spin questions the need will need a rational justification. 1.18.30 range probing techniques Definition of 'need'. 1.19.15 implied needs explicit needs the value equation. 1.25.15 develop the need further, so it becomes more acute success predictors buying signals - indicate a readiness to move ahead situation questions. 1.31.15 need/payoff questions. 1.41.50 creates a problem solving atmosphere the spin model. 1.50.25 1. ask situation questions, but not too many. They can bore or irritate the buyer features are unpersuasive because they give neutral facts. They don't help but they don't harm either

features are low power statements The many definitions of benefits. 1.58.30 these rival definitions Enthusiasm has caused us to become product-centered. 2.12.30 meet explicit needs preventing objections. 2.16.35 It's a comforting myth to think that objections are interests in disguise. which is symptom and which is cause. 2.21.35 effective needs development Don't talk about solutions until you've asked enough questions to establish needs. Value Objections. 2.23.20 Objections tell you that you haven't built a strong need.

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How this differs from Traditional Sales Program 1. Larger sales most other products and sales course theory is based on low value products/services using techniques such as: -feature/benefits -objection handling -closing techniques -open and closed questions. These generally dont work for high priced products/services and some actually harm the larger sale process.. 2. This program is based on the most extensive research in the sales field ever undertaken. Huthwaite Inc. researched 135,000 sales calls.

Classic Sales Call Steps:

1. Opening the call relate to buyers personal interests & provide initial benefit statements 2. Investigating needs open & close questions 3. Giving Benefits feature/benefit 4. Objection Handling clarifying objections & reword to needs you can meet 5. Closing Techniques

These may work for small sales but FAIL in larger sales. A small sale for the purposes of this program is one that can be completed in one call and has a small currency value. The classic sales techniques may be fine for small sales but will hurt the process in larger more complex sales.

These techniques exploit by verbal trickery and manipulation and treat clients like morons.

1. Characteristics of Major Sales

Its the changes in your clients perceptions & behavior that make major sales different. Differences between large & small sales: (a) Large sales sometime require several calls over a period of months. Multi-call sales have a completely different psychology than single sale calls. (b) Single call - buying decision takes place then and there with the seller present. Multi-call most important discussions go on when seller isnt present. Its the time between calls. (c) Instant pitch wanes very quickly if a buying decision isnt made immediately. Pushiness/pressure kills a multi-call sale. (d) Larger purchases require more of a decision making process as larger purchase are more visible and the repercussion for getting them wrong are significant. Example: buying the wrong car. (e) Value is more important the larger the cost. The single most important part is increasing perceived value. (f) Most large sales involve ongoing relationships between seller & client.

Product & seller are inseparable and equally important.

2. Anatomy of a Large Sales Call

4 Stages of a Major Sale Call: 1. Preliminaries: introductions and how conversation is initiated 2. Investigating:

understanding needs and number 1 skill 3. Demonstrating Capability: show you have the solution and something to offer. 4. Obtaining Commitment: arrange meeting, talk to higher management, NO purchasing will be done here.

3. Investigating Needs
Investigating Needs is the most important stage in major sales In smaller sales obtaining commitment is the most important stage as it usually means a sale being made. Not so with larger sales. You must ask a lot of questions. The more you ask the more successful you will be. Closed questions can be asked with a single or few words Example: Are you the manager? Open questions (non directive probes) take longer Example: Why is that important to you? Both are equally valuable with no preference with one over the other. Successful people ask a distinct sequence of questions which can be abbreviated as SPIN Situational Questions Data gathering of facts and background. Examples: How long have you had your present equipment? Could you tell me about your company growth plans? Can bore or irritate the buyer if over used. Problem Questions explore difficulties, problems or dissatisfactions in areas that seller product/service can solve Examples: Is this procedure difficult to perform? Are you worried about the quality you get from your machine? Most successful sellers ask LOTS of these Implication Questions explore problems consequences Examples: How will these problems affect you future profitability? How does this reject rate affect customer satisfaction? Helps buyer understand urgency of situation Need/Payoff Questions gets customer to tell you the benefits that your solution could offer Examples; Would it be useful to speed this operation by 10%? If we could improve the quality of this operation how would that help you? Top performers ask 10 times need/payoff questions than average performers.

These are for the Investigative Stage of the call and this system isnt written in stone and dont need to be in order or even in this stage but they do in most common situations.

4. Obtaining Commitment and Making the Sale (Closing)

Assumptive, Standing Room, Last Chance, Order Blank Close etc Most popular skill people want to learn, but is it the most important?? What is closing?? Behavior used by the seller than invites or implies commitment so that the buyers next statement accepts or rejects commitment. 190 calls were studied The 30 calls with the most amount of closes used (MU) was compared with the 30 that had the least amount of closes used (LU) in the conversation. 11 successful (MU) vs 21 successful (LU) No link between closing and success but so far inconclusive. Further testing showed that classic closing techniques puts pressure on a client reduces the chance of making a larger sale. By forcing the customer to make a decision, closing techniques speed up the transaction. More time is required for larger sales. Success of Closing Techniques are INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to Size of Purchase. Larger sales usually mean a post sale relationship with the client. Pressure ruins a post sale relationship. DEVELOPING NEEDS is much more important.

Closing in a smaller sale has one of 2 results: (a) Order commitment to buy (b) No Sale

Closing in a larger sale has one of 4 results: (a) Order commitment to buy

(b) Advances an event that moves the sale forward Ex: presentation, product test run (c) Continuation where the sale will continue but no action to move it forward. Considered unsuccessful as success is determined by action. Ex: Why dont you visit us again, we liked what we saw and well be in touch if we want to go further (being fobbed off) (d) No Sale

5. Setting Call Objectives

Always include objectives that have a call to action for the customer. Go for Advances not Continuations. Best Ways to Obtain Commitment: 1. Giving attention to demonstrating and investigating capability. You wont get commitment unless the client feels a NEED for what you are selling. This is your responsibility. 2. Checking that key concerns are covered. Answer doubts and objections. Make sure to ask if there are any. 3. Summarizing benefits. Calls may be lengthy so buyer may not have a clear of picture of what was discussed. 4. Proposing a Commitment. Suggest/Tell a next step (NEVER ASK). How do you know which commitment to propose? Either the commitment advances the sale or commitment proposed is the highest realistic commitment client can currently give. Never push the customer beyond achievable limits.

6. Customer Needs in the Major Sale

Investigating has the strongest influence on the sales process. Customer needs develop differently in a bigger sale. Needs arent instant and may take time. Needs may have to be consulted with other with rational justification of purchase. Bad purchasing decision could cost job. Needs have to be developed and has more consequence for buyer. Definition of Need: Any statement made by buyer which expresses a want or concern that can be satisfied by the seller.

4 stages of Needs Development

1) A potential buyer who is genuinely 100% satisfied with current situation does not feel a need to change. 2) First sign of a need is when 100% becomes 99.9%, slight discontent or dissatisfaction 3) 99% then become clear problems or desires 4) Severe but will still require perception of problem to become a want, desire or intention to act and only then ready to buy.

2 Types of needs: (a) Implied Needs - Dissatisfaction Example: Our present system cant cope (b) Explicit Needs Need or Want Example: We NEED a faster system Both must be treated differently. Situation Questions must be used carefully and successful sellers use few and the ones they do have a good reason behind them. The main reason people use too many is that they are comfortable to ask. Preplanning a call can cut down on these questions. Problem questions are more linked to small sales success as they uncover Implied Needs which are not sufficient for large sales success. You can be successful in small sales with these questions but NOT IN LARGE SALES!!! You need Implication Questions to build it up to a problem large enough to justify action.

7. Where Implication Questions Work Best

Main power is in larger sales to increase the size of the problems in the buyers head.

Important when dealing with decision makers. Decision makers respond more favorably to Implication Questions as their job is to deal with implications. These questions have a weakness though, as they make people uncomfortable with facing their problems and may make them depressed!! This is where the next type questions come in.

8. Need/Payoff Questions to the Rescue

Successful sellers use 2 types of questions to get from implied needs to explicit needs. They use Implication questions to build up the problem so it is perceived to be bigger and more serious. And then a second question to build up the positive value of the solutions. It is this second question that prevents depressing customers. These are called Need/Payoff questions. The ask about the value or usefulness of the solution to the problem. Examples: Would it be useful to you to solve this problem? Why would you find this problem so useful?

2 Powers of Need/Payoff Questions (a) They focus the buyer on solutions and action (b) They get the customer telling you the benefits to them Example: Q: How would this new machine help you? A: Well it would get rid of the production bottleneck and would make better use of lead operator time. These questions are essential to good customer relationships. Problems may have many parts and your solution will deal better with some parts rather than others. You run the risk of the customer focusing on the areas you dont solve by prompting how well your solution works and then he will begin to challenge the whole proposition, raising objections because the solution only deals with one facet of a more complex problem. In larger sales, problems faced by clients will generally be quite complicated and made up of many components and causes. It is unlikely you will have the perfect solution to all the parts so it is unwise to point out how well you can solve the problem. By doing so you invite objections. How do you gain customer acceptance?? By using Need/Payoff Questions you invite the customer to tell you the major problems that need fixing then he wont question the parts you cant. So the answer is dont TELL them what you can do until they GIVE you the ways your solution will help first!!! This reduces objections. Let them sell it to you and each other when you are not there. Make it easy for them to do so. How do you best prepare the client to sell on your behalf?? Need/Payoff Questions have a second use. The seller needs to get the buyer to describe benefits not the other way around. By doing this,

the clients focus is on how the solution helps best rather than on product details. By having the buyer explaining the benefits to you (rather than sit passively listening to you), they will be better able to do that to their colleagues or decision makers when you are not there. If the buyer feels its their ideas then they get more confidence in your product. In summary Need/Payoff Questions have 2 purposes: 1) Gain Acceptance of your product/solution 2) Makes buyer better sell your product/solution to others

9. SPIN Model
Logical step by step model but be flexible with it and see it as a guideline NOT a formula. Successful Large Sales People Use The Following Sequence: 1) Ask Situation Questions to establish background facts but dont ask too many for fear of boring or irritating the buyer 2) Quickly move to Problem Questions to explore dissatisfactions, difficulties, concerns or problems. These uncover Implied Needs. 3) Asks Implication Questions to make Implied Needs bigger and more urgent and develop them into Explicit Needs 4) Once the buyer agrees that the problem is sufficient to justify action, the successful seller ask Need/Payoff Questions to encourage the buyer to focus on solutions and describe the benefits that the solution would bring Recognize that your role is that of a problem solver.

10. Demonstrating Capability Stage

Features Benefits Benefits are ineffective in larger sales and are likely to create a negative response in the customer. Feature Features are facts about product/service. Features are unpersuasive but dont hurt either. Features are neutral. In larger sales features brought up early in the call have a negative effect but are neutral when used later. Users respond more favorable to features than decision makers. Features are low power statements that dont help you sell.

Benefit Type A Benefit - A benefit shows how a product/service helps the client (this includes implicit

needs) Type B Benefit - A benefit is how a product/service meets an explicit need expressed by the client Type B Benefit is by far the most successful. Type A Benefit = Advantage smaller sales Type B Benefit = Benefit ALL Sales Using Advantages will get you an early advance but will run out of steam and become a temporary effect especially between calls. Benefits are more successful between calls. Advantages are less effective than Benefits throughout the whole cycle. Selling New Products Why do new products fail?? New products are described with features & advantages rather than how it fulfils explicit needs. Attention should be on customers but initial enthusiasm misses this point. New launches should be announced to the sales force as to what problems the products solve.

Tips (a) Dont Demonstrate Capabilities too early in calls. Use Implication & Need/Payoff Questions BEFORE demonstrating capabilities. This is the No. 1 mistake because it is made harder as customer will usually prompt this before needs are established. If you are being forced into a presentation based on advantages & features make sure you have one pre-meeting with a key person to determine needs so you can include Benefits in the presentation. (b) Beware Advantages!! Dont let previous training mislead you that they are benefits. Benefits must meet an expressed explicit need by the client. Uncover explicit needs first. (c) Be careful with new products. Always ask what problems does it solve and base your SPIN questions to develop explicit needs.

11. Dealing With Objections

The more objections you get the less likely you are to be successful. An objection is a barrier so better not to unnecessarily create it in the first place. Improve probing skills. Could an objection be the result of you offering your solutions too early in the call?? Improve need development by using implication & need/payoff questioning. 2 signs of unnecessary objections: 1) Objections too early in the call. Caused by offering solutions too early. 2) Objections about value. Caused by not developing needs strongly enough. Price objections are caused by

communicating features.

12. Preliminaries

Relating to Personal Interest In that first time call, relating to buyers self interest at may not be beneficial to larger sales. Treat peoples time at a premium so dont dwell on areas of personal interest and it can also be interpreted as manipulative. Opening Benefit Statement Ok to use occasionally

Best Way To Open Calls The purpose is to get to the investigative phase so you need to tell them: (a) Who you are (b) Why you are there You need to establish that it is ok to ask them questions and your role is the questioner. 3 Tips (a) Get down to business quickly (b) Dont talk about solutions too soon as this can cause objections (c) Concentrate on questions

13. Theory to Practical Action

The sad fact is that we work harder at learning than transforming learning into skills. 4 Ways to Practice New Skill/Behavior 1) Practice 1 behavior at a time 2) Try the new behavior at least 3 times 3) Quantity before quality 4) Practice in safe situations

14. Four Stages of a Call

1) Preliminaries 2) Investigating 3) Demonstrating Capability 4) Obtaining Commitment

Develop each stage using the CALL PLANS in the SPIN Selling Fieldbook p223 of 284. the Fieldbook has explanatory diagrams and call plans.

I just read Neil Rackhams Spin Selling and must say that it was a revelation. Eben Pagan has recommended this book on more than one occasion and if you read it you will see how he has drawn some of his own material from this book. The whole books learnings are based on extensive research into the selling process by Neils company where they went through thousands of actual sales calls to find out what works and what doesnt. Heres a brief summary of some of the points (I suggest you read the whole book).

4 Stages of a Sales Call 1) Preliminaries opening the call, very often sales courses teach you to try and build rapport with the customer, find some common interest maybe a personal one e.g. you see a picture of them fishing on their desk and then bring that up, etc. This is the first impression call. 2) Investigating understanding the customers needs by asking questions. 3) Demonstrating capability showing the customer what you can do for them. Proving to them you can help them you have the ability to solve their problem. 4) Obtaining commitment this is closing. Now before reading on here ask yourself which stage is the MOST important?

OK hope youve chosen an option before you carry on reading. Many sales focus focus on closing as the most important. And heres thing in smaller value sales closing is the most important. However, in larger sales the Investigating stage is the most important. If youve done this well and demonstrated capability (the proof side of things) the closing is very simple. In a large sale if you dont do the Investigating stage well enough and move too early to closing you essentially upset and irritate your customer they dont feel the need to buy the product and just feel pressured. Thats why Ebens training is so focused on truly understanding what motivates your customer the issue of understanding challenges and frustrations, etc. Types of questions their research shows that it doesnt matter whether you asked open questions (no single answer) vs closed questions (single answer to the question very often single word!) However there are 4 types of questions which is how the book gets the name of SPIN. S is for situation questions finding out the clients background and facts. P is for problem questions what difficulties the client is experiencing. I is for Implication questions. This is really the key. You basically ask questions here that link the clients problems from P above to more serious issues so that you create urgency within them that wasnt there before. Examples in the book How will this problem affect your future! profitability?" or "What effect does this reject rate have on customer satisfaction?" Implication Questions take a customer problem and explore its effects or consequences. N is Need Payoff questions you now ask a question in such a way that the customer sells you on the benefits of your product thats right the customer sells you. How do you do this? You say to the customer If we could solve xxxxx how would that help you? This gets them into the positive mindset as well of solving their problem.

Ill end of with an example from the book which I think illustrates the point.

This first example shows how using situation and problem Questions alone is not enough. SELLER: (Situation Question) Do you use Contortomat machines in this division? BUYER: Yes, we've got three of them. SELLER: (Problem Question) And are they difficult for your operators to use? BUYER: (Implied Need) They are rather hard, but we've learned how to get them working. SELLER: (offering a solution) We could solve that operating difficulty for you with our new Easiflo system. BUYER: What does your system cost? SELLER: The basic system is about $ 120,000 and... BUYER: (amazed) $120,000!!! Just to make a machine easier to use! You must be kidding.

And here is how it should have been done.

SELLER: (Problem Question) And are they difficult for your operators to use? BUYER: (Implied Need) They are rather hard, but we've learned how to get them working. SELLER: (Implication Question) You say they're hard to use. What effect does this have on your output? BUYER: (perceiving the problem as small) Very little, because we've specially trained three people who know how to use them. SELLER: (Implication Question) If you've only got three people who can use them, doesn't that create work bottlenecks? BUYER: (still seeing the problem as unimportant) No, it's only when a Contortomat operator leaves that we have trouble while we're waiting for a replacement to be trained. SELLER: (Implication Question) It sounds like the difficulty of using these machines may be leading to a turnover problem with the operators you've trained. Is that right? BUYER: (recognizing a bigger problem) Yes, people certainly don't like using the Contortomat machines, and operators generally don't stay with us for long.

SELLER: (Implication Question) What does this turnover mean in terms of training cost? BUYER: (seeing more) It takes a couple of months before an operator gets proficient, so that's maybe $4000 in wages and benefits for each operator. On top of that we pay Contortomat $500 to put new operators through off-site training in their Southampton plant. So add perhaps 1000 for travel costs. You know, that's about $5000 for each operator we trainand I guess we must have trained at least five this year already. SELLER: SO that's more than $25,000 in training costs in less than 6 months. (Implication Question) If you've trained five people in 6 months, it sounds like you've never had three fully competent operators at any time: how much production loss has this led to? BUYER: Not much. Whenever there's been a bottleneck, we've persuaded the other operators to work overtime, or we've sent work outside. SELLER: (Implication Question) Doesn't the overtime add even more to your costs? BUYER: (realizing the problem is quite serious) Yes, we've been paying overtime at two and a half times the normal job rate. Even with the additional pay, the operators aren't very willing to work the extra hours which I'm sure is one of the reasons we're getting such high turnover. SELLER: (Implication Question) I can see how sending the work outside must also increase your costs, but is that the only implication of sending work out? Is the quality of work affected, for example? BUYER: That's what I'm most unhappy about. I can control the quality of everything we produce internally, but when anything goes outside I'm at the mercy of other people. SELLER: (Implication Question) And presumably, being forced to send work outside also puts you at the mercy of other people's delivery schedules? BUYER: Don't talk about it! I've just spent 3 hours on the phone chasing a late delivery. SELLER: (summarizing) So from what you've said, because your Contortomat machines are so difficult to use, you've spent $25,000 in training costs this year and you're getting expensive operator turnover. You've bottlenecks in production, and these result in expensive overtime and force you to send jobs outside. But sending jobs outside isn't satisfactory, because you're losing quality and getting late deliveries. BUYER: When you put it that way, those Contortomat machines are creating a very serious problem indeed.